Afternoon everyone, and hope you're doing well. I just got home (hotel) from work.

Bad news is that I was swamped today, and didn't make it back to FLL in time to run with Stig (catch you next trips).

Good news is that I missed all of the downpour that Stig got to run in by himself.

Fonz, major trips in the past 9 months would be:

1. Trip to the Olympics to watch the Men's Marathon. Couldn't fly directly to London so we had to spend 5 nites in Florence beforehand. I have a video that I took just for my Canadian friends (that would be my weekend training buddy and you) of the Canadian Marathon guys each lap when they came by. I posted it to YouTube, and I'll dig out the link for you.

2. Couple of weekend trips to Mexico City.

3. 3 weeks in Europe starting in mid-December to go to the Christmas Markets. We ended up in London for the New Year's Eve Fireworks, which were absolutely amazing. Here is the link to the BBC One coverage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e8vfRTsFU4 The Fireworks were 11 mins long, and the music playing on the video was synchronized to the fireworks.

4. Couple of ski trips to Utah & Idaho in January.

5. Guy trip to Atlanta Braves Spring Training with my stepson.

6. Several trips to South Florida to work in Boca over the past 6 weeks.

Dad, agree with your comment about Amsterdam. I ran the 1/2 there in October, 2011. The Marathon starts/finishes in the 1928 Olympic Stadium, which is really cool.

Final comment on the Beach people from last night's run. It seriously looked like a tryout for a People of Walmart photo shoot. Best line I heard was two guys arguing (they were drunk) over which Johnny Cash song was his greatest song.

Dad- Lunges are the devil when first starting them, along with squats. lol

Fonz - Sounds like a tough week. A quiet house for a few days! 890s for $31? Where?!?! I could do the trifecta of food too!

NickS- Sounds like a relaxing morning. No tris for me, unless I learn to swim a LOT better. Kayaking would work...if I didn't live in the middle of the high dez...lol I started mtbing during being hurt to keep up some fitness, and found out I really like it. Did a couple of small xc races and had fun. So I'm doing as much of it as I can. XC and some all mountain/dh stuff in the Sierras including Mammoth.

dark - Good luck this weekend!

runbo- Glad to hear there was no pain! Great news.

OMR - Triple 12s! Sweet!

JimE - Way to escape the balls... I need to go try out the track at the local community college here some day. A bit cooler (mid 80s) today, but along with the temp/weather change came the wind to usher it in. Back in the 90s in a day or two. But it's only going to get warmer here in the high dez.

Diggby - Agree on the rain, although that happens like 3 times a year here. lol

9 mtb miles at lunch in craptastic wind, 4@8:30 on the treadmill after work and then 45 minutes of core.

OMR: Yeah, rubber slipper sounds like another type of place. Ruby Slipper was decent for breakfast. Awesome job on the 300 for the month.

Gpops: Didn't necessarily train for 5k. I have been mostly focusing on marathons. I just saw they were having the 5k while we were staying in nola so I signed on up. I wanted to see if I could go sub 20. Hope the leg heals up ok.

r7: I've run 2 marathons but will end up with 3 in one year. Started running June 2012.

PJ: 50 miles... I couldn't imagine running just about another marathon after I just ran a marathon.

runbohem: hope the thigh is getting better.

darkwave: Nice running!!

Yo to everyone else I missed.

This last week has been without much running. While in Nola I ran one 12 miler and then the 5k race. Then it was mostly walking around the town and Jazz Fest which was amazing. Went with my buddy, who has ALS, to his therapy at the Saints facility (I was the small white dude among giants). Sauna for 15 minutes then cold bath for 2 1/2 minutes. I figured the cold bath wouldn't be that bad, I had experience dipping into a 55 degree pool at a hot springs before. I was mistaken, it was crazy bad. It was "slightly" cooler at about 35 degrees. I was able to stay in for the 2:30 but it was like enduring the last part of a marathon. It also brought a whole new meaning to shriveling up.

Gpops: For Fargo, it's not really an issue (they made significant improvements to flood protection after the 2009 flood, which was quite the event). Not sure about the rural areas. Good luck with PT...hope you get some answers.

Ghettopops - sorry. That is what I had. Honestly, though I hate NSAIDs in general, they were a key part of kicking that.

PJ - 406. Got it.

OMR - short and sweet.

Cpett - dayum, that's cold. Sorry about the friend with ALS. I lost my grandmother to ALS about 30 years ago. It's a horrible thing.

Runbo - late 8's, I like it.

NS - what up homie.

Moob - where is "here"? And yes, wind is craptastic.

Diggby - yup, running int the rain rocks. WHat I love is all the people that opt for pool-running when it rains. Don't get it.

Demo - that's a LOT of travel. Wow.

Hey to anyone I missed. Recovery for me today. Pool-running, swimming, and a massage. Plus a trip to the DMV to change my drivers license and car title/registration to Virginia from DC. I am gonna miss my "taxation without representation" license plates. But hey, now my vote counts (which means I have to vote, doesn't it).

PJ: 406, huh? FYI, Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941, so you're in good company. (No, I did not know that random statistic...I googled 406, and that's what showed up.)

Gpops: Sorry to hear about the ATT. So what does that mean for you regarding Fargo? Wait and see, or do you just have to sit this one out?

Darkwave: Yep, now you have to vote. Nice recovery day...well, except for the DMV part.

Nick: Regarding cpetts teeth, you're probably right. He was also probably experiencing more shriveling. And if your first mile was at 8:42, you must have been cruising right along by the time you got to the last one.

darkwave - b00b shots? So do we guys need to be using (maybe stuffed) shorts shots? As for those license plates, I seem to recall that "taxation without representation" was a big complaint during the American revolution. Sounds like you're still working on it.

Sound like y'all have been having some strange spring weather, stay warm-cool-warm-cool.....

PJ go get t make, cant wait to se how I goes.

NICK Agree with DW, Toxic is right. I think their the best/worst you've shown us in a long time, maybe ever

GPOPS Sorry about the ATT, keep those legs turning over.

DW Those Virginia plate must have a catch phrase on them, least you not from the Potato State

OMR What's popping bro?

RUNB I try to tell myself to relax and enjoy a bit of rest time, but you know how the mind works.

A big S'UP Y'ALL to everyone else.

I got over my wee meltdown on Wednesday and did 9.5 on Thursday, with a bit of a progression in there just for fun and a light 6miles last night after I bullied myself off the sofa. Don't really know how much I'm going to do this morning, close to 2 hours I guess. I have a HM next weekend so I'll start the build up to Gold Coast after that.

Road tripping this weekend too so that should be fun. Just hope the rugby team I'm tripping to see can get a win and make the trip worth it.

Lapped by DW Never been a stuffer myself but I have to say looks like it can be handy, maybe I could use one of those for my passport phone and keys

PJ: Just one more day, and then you get to unleash your inner swine! Good luck!!

Nick: Not sure if I would call that viewing "pleasure." Good luck with tomorrow's 5K! And no, my full is Grandma's, so I've still got at least four more weeks of work to do before I get to think about tapering.

Dwave: Do they make one of those for guys; one that holds a couple of beers, four slices of pizza, and...well, ok, make that six slices of pizza, since that's what I had for dinner tonight. (Let's just call it "recovery.") And good luck to you on Sunday!!

Tonz: Sounds like a fun weekend...enjoy the scrums...and the rugby match.

Jim: b00b shots...is that some sort of alcoholic beverage?

Hey to everyone...

Quality workout #2 for me today...

2M warmup

2 x 12 min tempo w/2 min rest (6:53 pace into a strong headwind)

9.75M @ 8:13

20 min tempo (3M @ 6:41...tailwind, but I was beat up after running into a headwind for the first 10 miles)

Tonz, way to get off the couch ha. Enjoy the road trip and rugby match.

OMR, looks like your prepped for Fargo.

Oh La peps. Day 5 on the bike. Day 6 no running. I get brief moments where I think maybe I'm getting better and then it just starts killing me. I got a nice swagger going though. Step, dip and slide.OMR I am pretty sure full at Fargo is not happening. I don't know if they will let me switch to half(don't really think that's going to happen either. I just got race and room paid for and don't want to throw out $200. On a plus side I got a 5 pack going from all the ab **** I've been doing for past couple weeks. Laters haters this nizzle has got to wizzle.

Tonz, way to get off the couch ha. Enjoy the road trip and rugby match.

OMR, looks like your prepped for Fargo.

Oh La peps. Day 5 on the bike. Day 6 no running. I get brief moments where I think maybe I'm getting better and then it just starts killing me. I got a nice swagger going though. Step, dip and slide.OMR I am pretty sure full at Fargo is not happening. I don't know if they will let me switch to half(don't really think that's going to happen either. I just got race and room paid for and don't want to throw out $200. On a plus side I got a 5 pack going from all the ab **** I've been doing for past couple weeks. Laters haters this nizzle has got to wizzle.

Nick. Very speedy indeed. AG win and sub 19 to boot -- nice recovery from Barstow and the flu. Does everybody know that Ms Nick is a real looker and I still can't quite figure out how he pulled that one off.Lucky boy. :-)

Good luck PJ.

Good to see Stigby. DW, Kinase -- still getting carded? Think I got carded in my early 30s and gave it to DD1, but not DD2.

Jim. Your friend ran the table.Excellent. +1 on spinning. Zero impact and you can do it for hrs.

Thumbs up on the NB860. They feel like a step up in padding from the Kinvara but no motion control and they aren't crazy heavy. I think my minimal shoe experiment might be dying.

Still rain and light snow this am, weights and stationary bike today anyway. Admitted some sick folks, now off to bed, run in am, round on patients from today and admit some more, then sleep. Ahh weekends.

Did plan a vacation last pm, Puerto Rico. I heard they do chest shots or some sort of thing there. Weirdest thing is drinking age is 18 so both kids can partake. Feeling older.